266. Clearly then, there was an ancient Word on earth, especially in the Middle East, that predated the Israelite Word. This earlier Word is still extant in heaven among the angels who lived during those centuries. It is also still extant today among the nations in Great Tartary, as you can see from the third memorable occurrence after this treatment on the Sacred Scripture [279].

232. Something opposite to this happens to people who read the Word under a false body of religious teaching, especially if they use the Word to support their body of teaching and are pursuing their own glory or the wealth of the world. Under these circumstances the truths in the Word seem to be in the shadows of night and things that are false seem to be in the light of day. Such people read truths but do not see them. If they see the shadow of truths, they falsify those truths. The Lord was referring to people like this when he said that they have eyes but they do not see; they have ears, but they do not understand (Matthew 13:14-15). The light in which they view spiritual things related to the church becomes nothing but earthly as a result. The things their minds then see are like the ghosts people sometimes see when just waking up in bed, or like the mistaken impression sleepwalkers have that they are wide awake.